London council takes down "unacceptable" sexist posters

A LONDON council has removed "unacceptable" posters instructing women which side of the road they should walk down.

The signs, which have "Women should please walk along this side of the road only" written in both Hebrew and English, were spotted along Stamford Hill in Hackney.

The Shomrim group, whose Jewish volunteers support policing in the area, said they were put up by an orthodox Jewish group during the Torah Procession earlier this week, in order to prevent men and women from the religious sect who are not married or related from touching.

Chaim Hochhauser, from the Stamford Hill Shomrim group, said it had contacted the organisers to inform them the posters "lacked explanation".

He told the Hackney Gazette the request was intended for people from the the Orthodox Jewish community who were attending the street event.

Mr Hochhauser said: "Shomrim have since contacted the event organisers, and explained that these posters lacked explanation in the English text, and therefore could have offended people who don't understand the Hebrew wording and the logo."

Stamford Hill is home to over 20,000 Haredi Jews, the third largest group.

Rosemary Sales, a councillor for Stamford Hill West, described the posters as "unacceptable" and said they had been taken down.

"Several residents in my ward in Stamford Hill have drawn these posters to my attention," she told the Evening Standard.

"It is of course quite unacceptable to try to restrict women's movements in a public place and council officers removed these posters as soon as it was reported to them."

Hackney Police Superintendent Andy Walker said he had spoken to the organisers about the "potential misinterpretation" of the signs.

A spokesperson for Hackney Council told The Independent the posters were removed after they were raised by the ward councillor.